I'd Die For the Man
by Genevieve Kelly
Summary: Cooper has known Mick for a long time, their boss having met the man under mysterious circumstances according to the rest of the team. Sam knew, but the rest of them didn't understand just how far their sniper would go to protect the leader or why. Sam hoped that it would never come to the younger man having to give his life to protect him. This case would show them who he is.
1. Chapter 1

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter One

Flashback…

_"So, I don't suppose you're going to tell me just where you two bumped into each other," Emily Prentiss stated as she looked at Mick while the two of them were surveying the crime scene._

_ "I'll tell you, I trust the man with my life," Mick answered resolutely as he looked back at her. "I'll tell you, I'd die for the man."_

End of flashback…

This was a brief conversation that took place some time ago between the man Sam Cooper considered one of his closest friends, and a former member of the BAU on another team which theirs worked closely with to solve a case of special interest to Coop, a conversation that no one ever knew took place besides the two that had it. However, Cooper always suspected and feared that Mick might bring this to pass one day and didn't need to overhear what was said between the agents to worry. He just never expected it to happen like this…

Two days ago…

When Prophet walked into the team's office two mornings after they had finished closing a case that took them three days to solve, he found his boss, Sam Cooper, and teammate, Mick Rawson, sparring like they did whenever Cooper suspected that Mick was bothered by something and refused to share with anyone what it was. This was something everyone else on the team seemed to recognize early on, but somehow was completely lost on the handsome, brooding Brit.

Once he finished putting down his bag, Jon walked over to where their coffee machine was placed, poured himself a cup, then pulled a chair around and sat to watch the remainder of his friends' match. By the time it was over, both Gina and Beth had arrived and were sitting down to enjoy the show as well.

When Sam had Mick pinned down to the floor, everyone clapped and cheered and Mick slowly rolled out front beneath their leader, then spoke up saying, "You three ought to start watching mixed martial arts on television or something like it if you want to watch a couple of clowns in a bloody circus."

Beth laughed at her colleague's humiliation as she replied, "Watching Coop kick your butt suits us just fine, thank you."

"When are you ever going to learn that you can't beat him?" Gina asked as she and the others began to pick up their chairs and place back around the table so that they could begin their day.

"Leave the man alone," Sam finally said as he wiped a rag along his neck to wipe away the sweat. "He's beaten me in a sparring match plenty of times. Just never when something's upset him."

Mick looked at his friend in confusion as he quickly asked, "What are you talking about?"

Cooper smiled as he responded, "Come on, Mick. You can't honestly think that we don't know that you're worried about something. Spill it."

"I don't know what you're talking about," the sniper answered as he walked to the table and was about to take a seat at the end until he stopped when he was startled upon seeing a young woman walking into the room and quickly stood straight as he stared at her in surprise. "Jenna, what are you doing here?"

"Jenna, as in, your sister Jenna?" Beth asked as she smiled and walked over to introduce herself. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."

The newcomer shook Beth's hand, then Prophet's and Gina's as she replied, "And you. I've been anxious to meet each of you and disappointed with my brother for not allowing me the chance before now."

Mick tried to defend himself as he responded, "It isn't like you haven't been busy with school, or work, or…"

"Or with my fiancé?" Jenna stated giddily as she raised her left hand to show off the engagement ring while she and the women of the team suddenly erupted with joy. "He proposed just last night. I'm so happy!"

"Congratulations, sweetheart," Sam answered as he finally came over and gave her a hug, as he was the only one of the team the young woman actually knew, and pretty well ever since she and Mick had moved into the states from Wales a few years ago. "That's wonderful news, isn't it Mick?"

The sniper smiled coldly at his boss, then hugged his sister tightly as he replied, "Indeed it is, Jenna. It's wonderful. But you know that I'm going to have to meet him, soon. Don't you love?"

She nodded and then responded, "Yes, Dad. As soon as I know that you're not going to interrogate him or threaten to shoot him should he say one word you don't like as you've done to all of the other men I've dated."

"He sounds like my father and most other men who simply want to make sure their daughters or sisters are safe," Gina spoke again as Cooper picked up his cell phone from the table as it beeped, indicating that he had just received a text, then nodded at his team to say it was time to get to work. "Come back and visit us again."

"And try not to be so hard on Mick," Beth said sincerely before following after her teammate. "He's only worried because he loves you so much."

Jenna nodded as the older woman turned and walked away to follow after Gina, then Jon shook her hand, followed by Coop, who kissed her cheek and added, "It was so good to see you again. I hope you will allow us a chance to celebrate with you before you leave town again."

The young woman nodded and answered, "I would love to. Good luck with your case."

"I'm glad that you finally got to meet my friends, Jenna, but I really wish you would have called before you simply showed up here at our office," Mick stated finally once all of his friends had left the room so he could say goodbye.

"If I hadn't have come today, I never would have met them," she replied in frustration. "Look, I know you're busy right now, so I won't try to figure out what's got you so worried about me getting married right now, but… If you can, I'd like to talk to you tonight, or whenever it is you get home from where it is you have to travel to. Until then… Promise me you'll be safe, alright?"

Mick pulled her into a hug and then responded quietly, "I'll do my best. Tell that man of yours he needs to join you here. As I said before, I want to meet him as soon as I return, do I make myself clear?"

She nodded, then watched her brother walk away and finally turned to leave herself. When Mick walked into the conference room where his teammates were waiting for him to join them for the briefing, Cooper began without another word being spoken about Jenna's visit. The Director of the RED CELL teams, Jack Fickler, appeared on screen as he did so.

Their leader looked around at his team as he said, "It looks like we're going to be heading down to New Orleans. Five men have all been killed in some kind of voodoo rituals and the local police are dumbfounded, as their unsure if their dealing with one UNSUB or twenty."

"So, we could be dealing with a cult then?" Prophet asked as he looked between Sam and their Director.

"It's possible," Fickler answered. "That's why I need your team to go down there and find the ones responsible, before people continue to die. They are scared and begging for answers."

When the screen went black again, Cooper turned back to his friends and replied, "You heard the man. Pack your things. I have a feeling it's going to be a long one."

Mick grumbled, then stood up after the rest of his teammates did and responded sarcastically, "That's just what I needed right now."


	2. Chapter 2

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Two

When the team finally touched down in New Orleans, each of them immediately headed for the police department stationed there in order to discuss the details of the murders with the locals to find out just what it was they were dealing with. As they got out of their vehicles they pulled up in, the team found that several people were standing around the station, keeping their eyes on the police and waiting anxiously for news from them about the grisly murders taking place in their city.

Prophet spoke up saying, "I never did like New Orleans. Even if these people aren't all into voodoo, black magic, and creepy rituals, they all still somehow seem…"

Gina finished for him, "Creepy?"

"Yeah, there's always been something dark about this city," Prophet answered as he and the rest of the teammates followed their leader inside the station. "I hoped that I'd never have to come back here again."

"This city always reminded me of another place I've been long ago while I was overseas fighting," Mick responded as he looked off in the distance, seeming to have been transported back to hard days from his past, then failed to continue, while the rest of them finally walked inside the police captain's office.

Upon doing so, the Captain rose from his chair behind his desk and reached out his hand to shake all of theirs as he said sincerely, "Welcome, I'm certainly glad that you all are here. I'm Captain Clay Montrose."

Sam shook his and allowed him to shake the rest of his friends' hands as well, except Mick, who still seemed lost as he looked around at the rest of the officers and citizens within the building, while he introduced the team saying, "Pleasure, Captain. I'm Agent Sam Cooper. The rest of my team is Beth Griffith, Gina LaSalle, Prophet Simms, and that guy over there, is Mick Rawson. You'll have to forgive him, he's not exactly the social type. Please, tell us what you know so far."

"Not really a whole lot," the man replied as he looked around at the newcomers. "At least not much more than the information we shared with your boss, Director Fickler. Over the last three weeks now, five men were all killed in a very grisly manner, stabbed to death with some kind of jagged blade, a pentagram painted upon their chests with blood. Forensics say that the symbols were all drawn in their own blood. However, there was also drugs found in our victims' systems."

"So it seems that two men are killed each week," Beth stated as she read the files one of the Captain's men handed her. "And where were their bodies found?"

One of the officers answered, "A few different places, but our last victim was found right outside our station on the sidewalk, dumped like a bag of trash."

Prophet quickly asked, "Is there a reason why your last victim was dumped here?"

"Yeah, he was one of us," the Captain responded. "Whoever did this, did it to send us a message. They're laughing at us."

"Maybe, but whoever's doing this is leaving your victims someplace of significant to each victim," Mick finally said as he looked over the crime scene photos upon the table set up in front of Montrose's desk.

Another of the officers asked, "And how do you know that?"

Mick looked back at the man and replied, "Your man was left outside of the station, and each of the others were left off in all different places. Usually the UNSUBs have a certain dumping ground for all their victims. It's easier for them to discard their kills. One of the sights is a park, another is a playground. They must mean something to these people they're killing."

"Mick's right, if it is a cult we're dealing with, or even if it is just one person who has a thing for the dark arts, these places wouldn't be of any significance to them," Sam answered with confidence. "And if the pattern holds out, another person will most likely be killed again by midnight tomorrow, as today is Saturday."

"Unless of course he believes Sunday to be the first day of the week, then we've got only until midnight tonight," Gina responded.

When the Captain ushered his own men out of his office so that the RED CELL team could be left alone, the group continued to look over the pictures as Prophet spoke up again as he said, "I hate voodoo. I hate everything about this city, except for maybe its football team and even that I'm not too crazy about."

Gina looked at him as she replied, "Voodoo isn't evil, only feared. It's no more evil than a gun is. It's the people behind it that makes it what we all fear."

"Well said, love," Mick answered with a smile, obviously having forgotten what was bothering him as he walked into the station.

"Thank you, Mick," she responded with a smile.

Cooper laughed and then spoke again in all seriousness, "We don't actually know whether or not voodoo is really involved. It's possible that the pentagrams painted on their chests are all meant to distract us from the true motivation of our killers. We need to go have a talk with the head coroner put in charge of doing our victims' blood work. I'd like to more about the kinds of drugs or toxins he or she found in their systems, as well as any other wounds or damages they might have sustained."

Beth nodded in agreement, then replied, "I'll go with you."

"And Mick, Gina, and I will go have a talk with our victims' families or friends," Prophet continued. "Maybe they'll be able to shed some light as to why our killer or killers targeted these five men specifically. I have a feeling that the common factor isn't simply because they're all Black."

"Maybe in a different city, but race is far from an issue here in New Orleans," Beth said as she looked out the window to observe the number of people walking around or standing outside the building waiting for a statement from the police. "There are probably more Blacks than there are any other ethnicity or culture. What are we going to tell the people? They're obviously getting scared. Our killers have made an impression already."

Cooper looked out as well and then answered, "As soon as we know what we're dealing with ourselves, we'll be able to come up with something to put their minds at ease."

Prophet responded, "Only catching our UNSUB and stopping the killings will do that."


	3. Chapter 3

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Three

While everyone else left to do the jobs assigned to them, Mick remained at the police station before heading off to speak with the other victims' families, as Gina and Prophet had, in order to talk with the police officer's partner and coworkers to see if there was anything more that they could share about the UNSUB's latest victim.

"What exactly do you want, Sir?" one of the officers asked as Mick leaned up against one of the desks in the main room and asked them to talk about the man they lost. "If you think that Kent did something to provoke this killer, you're crazy, and a bastard."

"I'm not accusing your man of anything, Officer…?" Mick responded coolly, unfazed by the coldness the officers all seemed to emit toward him.

The cop answered, "Officer Paul Denison, Sir."

Mick nodded and then continued on saying, "Officer Denison then. You can call me either Mick, or Agent Rawson, but never Sir. As I was saying, I am looking to know if there is any reason why Officer Kent might have stood out like the rest of our victims did. Is there anything he might have said or did that could have angered the people here, or any one of you perhaps? How well did you know the man?"

"Officer Kent was a good man," another of the officers replied, still in the defensive.

"He was a good man and good cop, but he did every once in a while have an anger streak that would come out from time to time, mainly whenever one of our suspects tried to strike out against us," one of the female officers added as she moved out from amongst the rest of the cops gathered around. "My name's Officer Britt Jacobs. I was Kent's partner."

Mick stood up straight as he looked straight at her, then said sincerely, "I am sorry for your loss, truly. What can you tell me about him?"

The woman looked around the room and then back at the agent as she asked, "May I speak with you in private, Si… Agent Rawson?"

"What is it that you're not able to share about your partner in front of the others, love?" Mick asked when they were standing alone inside the Captain's office.

"Look, I don't want to give you the wrong impression of my partner," she answered nervously. "Kent was kind and one hell of a cop, but he did tend to get a bit out of control from time to time when suspects became riled up. He never got too out of hand though, except for maybe once while I was busy taking care of a second criminal. The kid he chased down, was out of his mind on meth and began to lash out at him like a wild man. Kent had no choice, but to strike him in the back of his head in order to knock him unconscious. My partner was accused of officer brutality and suspended for a month without pay because the father of the kid happened to be a lawyer and threatened to sue our entire precinct if he wasn't punished in some way. The father wasn't happy that he wasn't fired, but nothing more came of it. Although, perhaps something did. If you ask me, the father might be a good place to start."

Mick nodded, then replied, "Perhaps he would if your partner was the only one who was killed, Officer Jacobs. What motive would this anger father have to kill four other men throughout this city?"

The woman grinned as she responded, "From what we've been told by our Captain, Agent Rawson, that's your job to figure out. Once you've got a lead and a probable suspect, that's when we'll step in."

"Well said," Mick answered as he turned and started to walk away.

"Agent Rawson, before you go…" Officer Jacobs suddenly stated again before he left the station. "There's one more thing about my partner that you should know before you leave."

When she didn't continue right off, Mick asked, "What is it, love? I promise you, you can tell me anything. I don't judge until I get all the facts."

She cleared her throat and finally replied, "Kent was a practice of voodoo. Not the kind that's evil like most people believe, but the prayers and blessings and all that's good, I promise you. He never told anyone, but me. Not even his own wife. He only told me because we had no secrets from each other."

"The two of you were in love." Mick said as he looked at her closely, in order to get a read on her. "I told you, I don't judge. I am just gathering the facts, as I said."

"We were," she responded despondently. "It wasn't something we planned. It just happened. I would never hurt him, even if it was to keep our secret between us. And his wife doesn't know. We were careful."

Mick nodded as he answered, "We shall see."


	4. Chapter 4

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Four

"Good evening, doctor," Sam said politely as he and Beth entered the city coroner's office so that they would be able to speak with the woman about her autopsies on their five victims. "I'm Agent Cooper with the BAU, and my partner here is Agent Griffith. We were hoping you could talk to us about the murders?"

"As you can see, I'm pretty swamped," she answered with a sigh as she leaned up and paused what she was working to look and speak with the agents. "Whoever your killer is, I hope you find him soon. Not that I don't appreciate the business, but I feel like I've seen more dead bodies in here in just the last two weeks than I have in the last several years. It's very sad."

Sam nodded as he responded, "It is. Can you give us their exact cause of death?"

The woman looked back down at the body of their latest victim, as she was currently finishing up the autopsy, then replied, "All of these men died after they were stabbed with a jagged blade of some kind in their abdomens. From the tears inside the wounds, it appears that your killer thrust the blade in with a hell of a lot of force and twisted it several times before pulling it back out. Their stomachs have been shredded. At least three of your victims would have died almost instantly due to their sizes, while the other two after a minute because they're bigger than the rest. They all lost a lot of blood."

"Our killer probably has some morbid fascination to see how long their victims can last," Beth stated grimly.

"He would have to," the doctor agreed.

Cooper leaned down to get a closer look at the body of the cop as he asked, "Were there any drugs in their systems? Anything that our killer might have given them, to either keep them from struggling too much or something that could heighten their pain levels perhaps?"

She nodded as she answered, "I did find drugs, for both reasons actually. Acetylcholine was used to keep your victims paralyzed while a great deal of torture was inflicted upon them before your killer finally put them out of their misery. I also found traces of tetrodotoxin, a poison used in many Haitian voodoo rituals."

"So we are dealing with voodoo," Beth responded worryingly.

"Yes, but the strange thing is, I've read that this kind of drug is commonly used among the Haitian cultures for healing," the coroner replied.

Sam thought for a moment, then turned to Beth and said, "It's possible our UNSUB somehow sees evil in each of his or her victims and wants to heal them.

Beth nodded as she continued his train of thought, "But when his attempts to complete his ritual fails, he feels it necessary to kill them, in order to destroy their evil."

"Exactly," the team leader answered as he looked back again at the coroner. "Thank you, doctor. I appreciate your time."

"You're welcome," she responded as she raised her hand in order to shake her visitors', but quickly retracted it as she realized her hands were still covered in the killer's latest victim's blood. "I hope you get whoever's done this, especially before he or she kills another poor soul. This city has seen far too much death. It's no wonder so many people see New Orleans negatively."

Beth nodded in agreement and then spoke up again saying, "We'll find them. Our team's good at what we do."

Meanwhile…

Prophet walked out from their second victim's home, followed by Gina after having spent the last hour or so speaking with two of their victims' families. As expected, each of the family members were devastated and no one seemed suspicious in any way, as the agents paid close attention to each person they spoke to in case they were involved with the deaths at all. It was a part of their jobs to rule the family members out first.

Gina spoke as she said, "So, no one recognize any of our other victims. They don't appear to be connected in any way."

"I didn't really expect them to know each other," Prophet answered as he looked around him and then pulled out his phone upon receiving a text from Mick. "Mick says that he's heading to the cop's home now. He says according to his partner at the precinct, that he was a practitioner of voodoo himself, but that he only used his craft for healing. Apparently no one else knew about this, but his partner."

"That's interesting," Gina responded in surprise. "It's possible that this cop was involved with our killer somehow. They could have worked together and then when something went wrong in their partnership, the other could have turned against him and killed him."

Prophet nodded and replied, "It's the best lead we've got so far. Let's go meet up with Coop and Beth back at the station. Maybe they'll have something too."

Before the agents could get into their car, a young boy ran out of the home they had just come from as he shouted out, "Wait! Don't go yet! I have to tell you something!"

"Are you alright?" Agent Simms asked quickly as he stopped the boy who ran into the older man's arms. "Just take it easy. What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," the child answered as he fought to regain control of his breath. "I mean I'm fine, but something was wrong with Charlie. I saw… I saw my brother… I saw him fighting with another man. He threatened my brother. He threatened to kill him if my brother didn't back off."

Gina looked at the boy in confusion as she asked, "Back off? What did he mean?"

He shook his head as he responded, "I don't know. Neither of them said. At least I didn't understand what they were talking about. They mentioned something about a deal gone wrong and then the other guy said that Charlie double crossed him."

"Did your brother or this man know that you were around while they were arguing?" Gina asked again. "Can you tell us where you were when this took place?"

"Neither of them saw me," he replied and then pointed to a small apartment in the back behind the house. "I was playing by myself inside my brother's house to get away from my annoying sister, despite him telling me to stop going inside there when he wasn't home. I wasn't expecting my brother home from work so soon, but as soon as I heard him coming in, I hid inside his closet and stayed quiet. I was scared when the other man grew angry and threatened my brother."

Prophet leaned down to look the boy in the eyes as he patted his shoulder gently and then answered, "I'm sure you were, but I promise you that you're helping your brother by speaking with us. Is there anything else you can tell us? Did you happen to get a look at the man Charlie was arguing with?"

The boy shook his head and responded, "No, I was in the closet the whole time. I was too afraid to peak. I'm sorry."

"It's alright," the male agent replied kindly. "You did really well. I promise you, my friends and I will do everything we can to find the person who killed your brother."

"Thank you," he answered quickly and then ran off as the agents watched him go back into his house.

Gina spoke up again saying, "Poor kid. He may have heard our killer's voice."

Prophet looked over at her as he responded, "Maybe if we find us a suspect, he'll be able to tell whether or not he's the same guy who threatened Charlie. It could be a step in the right direction."


	5. Chapter 5

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Five

As Prophet and Gina pulled up back at the police station, they found that Cooper and Beth had already arrived back, but were still sitting within their car as they talked while they waited for the rest of their team to arrive too. Their leader waved his teammates over to sit with them until they were ready to go back inside the station.

Sam was the first to speak as he stated, "Beth and I had a bet to see which of you would arrive back here first. It looks like I won."

Beth rolled her eyes, then replied, "Gloat later if you want to. Mick is just one man."

"I'm not gloating, just stating a simple fact," Sam responded and then turned to his friends in the backseat. "Did you two learn anything that might give us a lead?"

"None of the friends or family members we spoke to knew of any reason why someone would want to do this to our victims," Jon answered as he looked between his boss and coworkers. "It's certainly not unexpected. No one ever admits that their loved ones were into anything that might have led to their deaths."

Gina quickly continued, "However, the brother of one of our victims, Charles Hirsh, overheard his brother arguing with someone shady, who threatened to kill him if he didn't back off. The kid didn't know what the guy meant by it, and he didn't ever see the guy's face, but he does believe that if he ever heard the guy's voice again, he would recognize it."

Beth nodded as she concluded, "Meaning, that if we were to get a suspect and have him brought in, this kid would be able to tell us if he and the man who threatened his brother are one in the same. That's a start."

"Were you and Coop able to learn anything?" Gina asked as she looked between her friends.

"Nothing more than we already suspected, except…" Sam began to reply until he noticed Mick pulling up and stopped to wait for their colleague to join them.

Once they were all together again, Coop looked back at the British agent as he said, "We were just starting. So far we know that one of our victims' brothers overheard someone threatening him. And I was about to explain that each of our victims were indeed drugged, but one that that we didn't expect is that one of the drugs found by the coroner is tetrodotoxin, a drug that is known to be used in voodoo healing rituals."

Mick responded, "So it's possible that our UNSUB believes that each of his or her victims are all sick or possessed by something evil and so they feel it's their duty to perform some kind of healing ritual on them, only to have it go wrong, making it so that they have to kill them with the jagged knife used on them all, to destroy the evil."

"Exactly," Cooper answered as he looked down at the notes he made while speaking with the doctor.

"Officer Kent's partner explained that he was into the kind of voodoo that involves healing and some other rituals meant to help people," Mick replied when he pulled out his cell and showed his boss a file Mick had had the police Captain forward to him in regards to the disciplinary report filed against Kent for the brutality charge. "Officer Jacobs, Kent's partner, said we ought to look into this kid's father as she believes he holds quite the grudge against Kent."

Beth looked at Mick questioningly as she asked, "A grudge bad enough to want him dead?"

Prophet shook his head as he responded, "That might be a possible lead if Officer Kent was our only victim, but… Seeing as we've got four others and drugs in their systems to indicate that it was some kind of healing ritual gone wrong, I'd say that this angry father isn't our killer."

"I agree, which is what I told Kent's partner, who then went on to explain that Kent was into voodoo," Mick answered as he took back his cell phone. "She also said that she and Officer Kent were having an affair, which is why she's the only one who knew about Kent being involved with voodoo. They were in love, or so she says, but did he love her?"

"Why are you always so cynical when people say their love?" Gina asked him.

Mick smiled as he replied, "I'm not always cynical, but I am when people are having affairs. If he truly loved her, then he would have left his wife for her and they wouldn't be keeping their relationship such a secret."

Beth responded, "You're also cynical of your sister's engagement."

"Not cynical, just worried," Mick answered as the lightness in his mood suddenly changed and turned cold as he opened the car door and stepped out. "I'll see you inside."

"Man, I didn't mean to upset him," Beth said in frustration once their friend walked away. "Why am always such an ass when it comes to his relationship with his sister?"

Cooper looks at Beth as he replied, "He isn't upset with you. He knows you didn't mean anything by it. Mick's just very protective of Jenna. Always has been, especially after everything's he's seen that's bad in the world, working within the BAU and back when he fought oversees. I know he's happy for her, but I also suspect that he's worried about no longer being needed in her life."

Gina responded, "That's just crazy. She'll always want Mick to be there for her. He's her brother. It's clear that she adores him."

"That's true," Sam stated and then opened his door and began to follow after Mick, as did the rest of the team. "I think we need to have another chat with Officer Jacobs. Beth, would you and Gina go and speak with her? She might be more comfortable with sharing more with the two of you."

"If you think it will help, but if you ask me, I don't think that we'll learn much more than what Mick already got from her," Gina answered. "Actually, I'm impressed that she's already told Mick all that she did."

Prophet nodded as he stated, "That's true, especially as she's a cop."

Sam spoke again saying, "Perhaps she wasn't exactly as forthcoming as she seemed. I think that there's more to her story than what meets the eye."


	6. Chapter 6

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Six

"I already told your colleague everything, including something that could destroy my job and my reputation if it were to get out to my boss and friends here," Officer Jacobs stated coldly as Beth and Gina began to question her once again after pulling her into a private room within the precinct.

"I promise you, we're not here to cause trouble for you," Beth responded calmly. "We simply suspect that you didn't tell our colleague everything."

She stared at the two FBI agents like they were crazy as she replied, "I told Agent Rawson that I was having an affair with my married partner and that he was a practitioner of voodoo. What more can you possibly suspect that I left out?"

Gina shrugged as she answered, "We don't know. That's why we're here. What we do know, is that people we question tend to leave something out of their stories, especially police officers when they have something to hide and seeing as you are clenching and unclenching your fists right now, I suspect we're right."

"Look, I don't know what you're talking about," Jacobs said more angrily as she unclenched her fists one last time, then walked toward the door to leave until Beth put her hand against it to block her way.

"Officer Jacobs, if you truly care for your partner and want us to find the person responsible for killing him, then we need to know everything, including what it is that you are so afraid to tell us about," Beth spoke again. "Please, do it for him."

The female officer looked between the two agents and sighed, then finally responded, "Look, I figured that when you and your agents searched his home, you would most likely find out about his religion, but I was afraid that if I told you that I practice voodoo as well, word would get out."

Beth asked, "Why are you afraid of that? Even if your fellow officers do learn that you practice voodoo, you can't lose your job for having religious believes no matter how bizarre or evil most people may find it."

"That's just it, isn't it?" Jacobs replied coolly. "Most people think voodoo is evil, even the healing side of it, especially my boss. Several years ago, he had to arrest a small cult of voodoo worshipers who nearly killed a young woman in some kind of sorority initiation. Unfortunately, two of these stupid kids' parents were big time lawyers and were able to get each of these kids off scot free. He hates voodoo, good or not, and if he were to find out about me, he would find a reason to fire me and I worked too damn hard to get where I am today. I am begging you, please do not tell anyone."

"We won't so long as your secret has nothing to do with Officer Kent's death," Gina answered. "I promise. Thank you for telling us, Officer Jacobs."

When the women parted, the agents walked back to find their companions, only to find Prophet and Mick inside the office that they were working out of, then Beth spoke up asking, "Where's Cooper? Gina and I just got us a possible motive for someone wanting at least one of our victims dead."

Jon looked toward the police captain's office and responded, "He went to go get permission from the Captain to access files on Officers, Kent and Jacobs."

"From the stern look on the man's face, I'd say the Captain here isn't exactly too thrilled about the prospect of any of his men or women possibly being suspects in these deaths," Mick replied as he and the others looked toward the office and saw the man arguing with their leader, who finally left and started walking toward them again.

"Did he agree to hand the officer's files?" Gina asked quickly as Cooper walked in.

Sam shook his head and answered, "As you could probably tell, he wasn't willing to cooperate that far. He doesn't like that we implied one of their own is a probable suspect in the death of another of his men and now regrets calling us in."

Beth responded, "Well, we did manage to learn what Jacobs was trying to hide and it's possible that she might have killed her partner to keep her secret a secret, but it's no motive for killing the rest of our victims. Officer Kent wasn't the only voodoo practitioner. She also said that we would most likely find something at his home that proved he practiced the religion. Mick, did you see anything while you were there speaking to his wife and family?"

"I didn't exactly have the opportunity to look around while I was there," the British agent replied as he looked back at his friend. "But if you think it's important, I can go back and see if I can convince his wife to let me have a look around."

"You don't have to go alone," Cooper stated, then turned to look over at Prophet and Gina. "Meanwhile, I want the two of you to look into our fourth victim to see if he has any ties to anyone with a criminal record. Most likely, the person who threatened him will have one and may have a good reason for wanting the young man dead, and quite possibly the rest of our victims too. I'll be back in a few minutes, Mick. I have to go speak with the coroner about something for a moment. I saw her step into the Captain's office, then left a minute ago. I should be able to catch up with her before she takes off. There's something on my mind that doesn't feel right."

As he started to walk away, Beth called out after him as she asked, "Do you want me to come with you?"

Sam turned back as he continued walking and answered, "I'm good. Just go with Prophet and Gina. We'll meet up with you at our hotel later."

It didn't take long for Cooper to make it out to the parking lot behind the station and when he did, he saw the women he spoke to earlier that afternoon about the victims' tox screens getting into her car. He shouted out to her as he quickly started to approach her, but he was suddenly attacked from behind and fell to the ground as he felt electricity flow through his body from a taser. The lead agent struggled to back away from his attacker as his vision became hazy and when he backed up as far as he could when he backed into a car parked car, he blurrily saw an outline of his assailant, as well as the stature of someone much smaller as he fought to pull out his weapon, which was quickly knocked from his hand as electricity flowed through him once again.

"Take it easy, Emmanuel," a woman's voice stated coolly, as Sam recognized the voice matched up to the coroner he had run out to speak to while he fought to remain conscious. "We don't want him dead."

"You're darn right you don't!" Mick shouted as he suddenly jumped up on top of a parked car behind his boss' attackers, then down upon the Haitian, the more threatening of the two.

Mick fought hard against the silent attacker, but it wasn't long before he had the agent on his back as the man held a jagged blade over him. Suddenly, the Haitian thrust the blade down into Mick's shoulder, causing him to cry out, then as the knife was pulled out again, the coroner quickly cried out for her partner to stop.

She ran over to them as she spoke to him saying, "Don't kill him. We're trying to help them remember? Forget their leader for now. Carry this one to our car."

Sam tried to reach for his gun to help Mick as he watched the Haitian pull his wounded friend from the pavement and carry him over to a car, but it was quickly kicked further out of his reach by the woman, then he continued to struggle through the pain of the taser's power as he looked up at her and pleaded, "Don… don't do this!"

"You may not believe this right now, but I promise you that we never wanted to kill these people," she said as she knelt down beside the agent and jabbed a needle into his neck. "I promise you, we'll do everything we can to save him from the evil that's inside of him. Then, we'll be back to help you too."

"Mick!" Cooper cried as he couldn't do anything, but watch as the car with his closest friend inside drove off before any more help showed up, as whatever was inside that syringe he had been injected with moments ago was slowly causing him to drift into unconsciousness.


	7. Chapter 7

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Seven

When Sam finally began to come to, he found himself lying upon a hospital bed, surrounded by his colleagues, when he suddenly remembered the reason why one of them was missing; Mick had been wounded far worse than he had been and then kidnapped by the team's UNSUBs.

When the team leader struggled to get up as a wave of dizziness passed over him, Prophet quickly stopped him by placing his hands on his shoulders and stated, "Take it easy, man. You've been unconscious for a couple of hours, but don't worry, you're going to be fine, but you took one hell of a jolt, not to mention a pretty strong sedative."

Beth moved closer to his bed as she asked worryingly, "What happened out there? Beth and I walked out of the precinct just as we heard and saw a car speeding off, then found you unconscious on the ground beside one of the police cars, as well as a pool of blood on the ground not far away. Where's Mick?"

"They too… took him," Cooper answered curtly. "Mick was wounded, badly. We need to find them."

"What do you mean they took him?" Gina asked fearfully. "Who?"

Sam looked between his friends, then continued to get out of the bed again and replied, "Dr. Colleen Stevens, the county's coroner and someone else. They're the UNSUBs."

Prophet shook his head in confusion as he responded, "I don't understand. We've barely begun to look into this case, haven't even come up with a profile yet, and they've already made a move against us?"

"But why Mick?" Gina asked finally. "He doesn't fit their victims' profiles, nor did they follow their preferred MO."

"I'm not sure what's changed, but before I blacked out, Dr. Stevens leaned down and whispered that she was going to do all she could to save him from the evil inside of him," Sam answered as he led them out of the hospital despite his friends' efforts to get him to take more time to rest. "They're going to perform the same rituals on Mick that they performed on the rest of the men, until they realize that their delusions of evil won't be lifted and they decide they'll have to kill him."

Prophet nodded, then replied, "But you did say he was wounded. They're going to need to take time to stitch up his wound if he has any chance of surviving whatever drugs and crazy rites they have planned."

They remained silent for several minutes out of worry for their friend, but once the teammates were in their SUV and on their way back to the police station, Sam broke the silence when he stated, "Mick was wounded because he stopped them from taking me. I was their initial target, but he jumped our larger threat, a tall, large in stature Haitian who didn't speak a word, who pulled out some kind of knife, or dagger, probably the same blade they used to kill our victims and put it through his shoulder."

"I really hate to make this situation worse than it already is, but… I found Mick's cell on the ground by his blood," Beth spoke again as she looked at the device in her hand as it began to vibrate. "His sister's calling."

"It could be something important," Sam responded as he took the phone and stared at its screen. "I've made plenty of these calls to inform the loved ones of our victims that they're either in trouble or they're dead. If I don't call her back… I'm not so sure how to make this call."

Prophet looked at Cooper as he asked, "Didn't you ever have to when Mick was fighting overseas?"

Cooper shook his head as he answered, "Mick asked me never to speak to anyone about what I know happened to him while he over there, not even to Jenna."

"I don't think you have a choice this time," Gina replied. "You need to call her, even if you don't think he'd want you to."

"I know," Cooper responded as he placed their colleague's phone into his coat pocket, then looked at the younger woman sadly. "I'll call her later when I can speak with her in private."

Beth saw the worry for Mick in their leader's face, not to mention the contempt he held in for himself and even though she knew the answer, she calmly asked, "Are you alright, Sam?"

Sam looked back at her and answered coldly, "I will be once we get him back."

Later that evening…

The county's coroner walked into a filthy bathroom belonging to a run down, abandoned gas station far outside of the city and began to wash blood off of her hands in its sink. Before she finished, her companion walked in and stood beside her as he held out a small notebook he carried with him, showing the woman the words written.

"This one made it through the surgery just fine," Dr. Stevens said after she read his note, asking her if the agent was going to survive. "He's more resilient than I could have ever hoped. I think this one will actually be able to survive our casting out the demon within him."

"_It was risky to kidnap an agent with the FBI,_" the Haitian quickly wrote again. "_His friends will be looking for us and won't hesitate to kill us should they find us._"

She shook her head and replied, "Don't worry. We're perfectly safe here. And even if we are taking a big risk to save this man, it's our duty. He needs us to help him be free of this evil."

He continued, "_It was one thing to take one from within the agents' grasp. What about the other man who needs our help? How are we going to be able to save him too?_"

"We'll find a way," she said as she picked up a towel and finally dried off her hands, then gently reached up to touch his cheeks. "There's always a way. You taught me that our Gods will make our mission in life possible so long as we remain faithful. Please don't lose faith in me now."

"_Never,_" the Haitian responded in writing. "_I've cared for you ever since you were younger and I always will until death finds me._"


	8. Chapter 8

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Eight

The next morning…

"We are now looking for Dr. Colleen Stevens, who appears to be the instigator of our two suspects, while the second is a Haitian, male, tall, and large in stature," Sam began as he and the rest of the RED CELL team delivered the profiles of their UNSUBs to the rest of the police department.

"Why is it that you believe Dr. Stevens is the instigator?" one of the officers asked before they continued. "She's very kind and has been good to the men and women working here for as long as she's been here."

Beth looked at the man as she replied, "That may be, but it doesn't mean that the woman doesn't have an evil side to her. No one suspected Ted Bundy or Scott Peterson of being cold blooded killers either."

Cooper continued, "Besides, my colleague and I first met the doctor yesterday shortly after we arrived as we spoke to her about our victims. That was the only time we met and it wasn't long before she came here to the station, with a plan to kidnap me, with help from the Haitian who works with her. Agent Rawson interrupted their plans when he jumped him, saving my life."

"So why did they choose to take him instead of you?" Officer Jacobs asked. "You said it yourself yesterday that all of your killers' victims are Black males. Your friends doesn't fit their choice of targets."

"We only assumed that was true as each of the victims are Black males, as am I," Sam answered in frustration. "However, our assumption proved wrong, as I now believe Dr. Stevens has no specific type of victim, only chooses them upon seeing whatever kind of evil she sees within them. She and her partner are indeed our killers and if we don't find them soon, our colleague will end up being their latest victim. If we don't find them before they discover they have to kill him, they may possibly leave town, making it far more difficult to track them down and find them."

The Captain finally spoke up in response, "We've got roadblocks at every border in and out of this city, as well as every law enforcement officer within New Orleans with Dr. Steven's picture, along with the Haitian's description you've given us. If they're still here, we'll find them."

Prophet stated coldly, "Then, if any of you are religious in any way, I suggest you pray they're still here."

"Officer Sims! Officer Sims! I need to talk to you!" a young boy suddenly shouted as he came running into the station, running around wildly looking for the agent he had spoken with the day before.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, take it easy," Prophet quickly replied as the boy finally ran over to him and Jon focused on trying to calm him down before he spoke again. "Good. Now, what's going on?"

The boy breathed in and out and when he was ready, he finally replied, "I came into town to buy some food from the market for my family and I walked by the station, but I dropped my bags when I heard the man's voice again; the man who killed my brother."

Sam walked over and looked down at the boy as he asked, "Your brother is Charles Hirsh, is that right?"

"Yes Sir," the boy answered shyly. "I'm Noah. I heard someone threaten Charlie, saying something about a deal gone wrong and he said that he would kill my brother if he didn't back off. I was too scared to peak. I'm sorry, but I said I would tell Officer Sims if I heard his voice again and I did. The man came in here."

"He came in here?" Gina asked in confusion as each of the agents looked around the station. "Was he wearing regular clothes, like what my friends and I have on, or you?"

Noah shook his head, then responded, "No, he's wearing a uniform, like all of the cops in here."

Jon looked at Cooper, then over at the police Captain standing in the doorway, and finally back down at the boy again as he asked, "Noah, do you see the man you heard threaten your brother right now, somewhere out in the main room of this station?"

The boy looked around the room slowly, then became nervous and moved closer to Prophet as he nodded his head and pointed to one of the officers, who was unaware that each of the agents' eyes, as well as his Captain's eyes, were all suddenly on him. Jon carefully pulled Noah further into the room where he would be out of sight.

"What is the officer's name, Captain?" Sam asked quietly as he moved forward to stand beside the man running the precinct, who was looking at the accused in confusion and worry. "I don't… That's Officer Paul Denison. He's had some disciplinary trouble in the past, but he would never kill a man; not in cold blood over some kind of petty squabble."

"Perhaps that petty squabble became something more," Prophet replied coldly and then followed the team's leader out into the main room to help Cooper get the officer into one of the building's interrogation rooms where they would question him.

As they approached the cop speaking with his partner and another of the officers, Sam spoke up saying, "Officer Denison, we'd like you to come with us so we can ask you a few questions please. There's no need for alarm, but it is important."

Denison stared at them in confusion, then asked, "What is this about?"

"Please just do as they said, Paul," Captain Montrose said sternly as he stepped forward and motioned for his man to follow them. "You have nothing to worry about."

"All right, I'm here," the officer stated gruffly as he looked between the three men standing in front of him once he was seated inside one of the rooms where he questioned many men and women before now. "What is this about?"

Sam sat down across from him and answered, "My friends and I have reason to believe that you knew one of the victims we believe were killed by Dr. Stevens and her partner; our fourth victim killed at the beginning of this week, Charles Hirsh. Is this true?"

Paul scoffed, though his legs began to twitch nervously underneath the table, not going unnoticed by either of the men within the room, then the officer looked at Cooper and responded in frustration, "I've never heard of him. If someone said otherwise, they're either lying or they're simply mistaken."

"I don't think so," Cooper continued. "You see, we have it under good authority that you were arguing with Hirsh not long before he was killed."

"There was a witness to your argument," Jon added angrily. "This witness overheard you threaten to kill the victim if he didn't back off. Did some kind of deal go wrong between the two of you?"

Denison quickly replied sternly, "I told you, you are mistaken. It's a lie."

Prophet leaned down on table, getting in the officer's face, and then asked cruelly, "Did Charlie Hirsh threaten to ruin you should you go against him and continue with your deal? Did he threaten to come to your boss and tell your dirty little secret?"

"I only meant to threaten him!" Paul shouted angrily. "It's his own fault that he's dead!"

"You're telling us that you killed him?" Sam asked, surprised by the officer's sudden outburst and confession.

The man looked up at his own boss and answered nervously, "I didn't mean to. I didn't plan to, but he said he was going to ruin everything we had been working toward for the last two years. It wasn't meant to end up like this!"

Captain Montrose spoke up quickly saying, "I suggest you stop talking right now and wait for your union representative and lawyer."

"You're going to need a good lawyer to help you," Sam responded in frustration upon Montrose's interference, so close to gaining a full confession. "Captain, I suggest you lock Officer Denison behind bars until we can speak with him again."

"I do apologize for my man's actions getting in the way of your investigation, Agent Cooper and Agent Sims," Clay stated sincerely as he motioned for his man to exit the room, then followed behind him as they walked toward the cells.

As they watched them leave, Sam stood as Prophet walked over to stand beside him and spoke again, "Charlie's body was found in the same condition as the rest of the victims. His killer being a cop explains how Denison was able to throw us off. He must have stabbed him, then found another jagged blade to deepen the wound with to make it look like the same as the rest of the victims. Not to mention him recreating the all of the rest of the details not released to the public."

Cooper replied, "If it wasn't for Noah overhearing the argument and being brave enough to come to you, we never would have known and Officer Denison might have gotten away with murder. At least one murder is solved. Unfortunately, this doesn't get us any closer to finding Mick."

"We're going to find him, Sam," Prophet answered worryingly. "Something is going to turn up. And Mick is strong enough to hold on until we do. Did you speak with Jenna last night?"

"Yes," Sam responded sadly. "She didn't take it well. Despite my objections, she's taking the next flight down here. Mick is the only family she has and he means the world to her. We have to find him or her wedding day will not be as happy as she deserves it to be."


	9. Chapter 9

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Nine

Mick eventually woke and struggled to move, but quickly found that his wrists, arms, and legs were bound tightly to the table he was laid upon so that the woman who had kidnapped him could work to stitch up his shoulder wound. What Mick didn't understand was why his kidnappers had abducted him instead of his team's leader when they had the chance and why they were even bothering to keep him alive when Mick knew that his death was inevitable once they realize that they won't be able to save him as he knew they believed they could.

Not long after he awoke, the doctor walked into the main room where he was being held and spoke softly saying, "You're awake. I'm relieved, though I have a feeling you don't actually believe that. "

As his wrists were tied tightly to the underneath of the table, Mick worked carefully to try to loosen the cords while he stared coldly at the woman and responded, "I know that you and your friend believe you are taking these people to try to save them from something, but you're not doing anything except for murdering them. That's what the two of you truly are, love; murderers."

"You're wrong," she answered angrily. "We're releasing them from their agony. They were already dying. We are doing all we can to free them. Their deaths are tragic, but only the demons within them are to blame."

"Perhaps so, but you can be damned sure that the families of the men you killed won't be so understanding, nor will the people here in this city," Mick replied. "Or the law."

She leaned down so that her head was close to his as she whispered into his ear, "We don't do this for them. We're doing this for evil's victims because it is our duty, just as we will do for you."

Mick sharply turned his head away from her once she began to kiss his cheek, then he said coldly, "Do whatever you plan to do to me. Heal me or kill me, I don't care, but know that you will be stopped by my teammates before you can do harm to anyone else. Where's your silent partner? I suggest you get started on your little exorcism. I'd rather die than listen to any more of your superficial bullshit."

"I just needed to be sure that your wound hasn't become infected so that we can begin," she responded, not seeming to have become fazed by his coldness and bravado. "And for your information, we don't perform exorcisms. Voodoo has been proven time and time again to heal the sick, as it will help to heal you."

"Whatever you say doc," the British agent answered as he continued to stare up at the ceiling while he still struggled with the bindings until the woman standing over him suddenly injected with some kind of drug with the use of a syringe, a drug that slowly made it impossible for him to be able to move at all.

She leaned down again and once again spoke into his ear saying, "I'm afraid I have nothing to help with your pain, but at least I can help you so that you can't struggle against our efforts. You will thank me for all of this when it's all over, I swear it."

It wasn't much longer before the Haitian finally walked into the room carrying a wooden bowl stained with blood, as well as a couple of vials containing liquids, medicines and other remedies used for certain healing rituals, then placed it all on top of a cart and wheeled it closer to the table where they would have easier access to them.

The silent partner quickly pulled out his notebook from his coat pocket again and began to write, then handed it to the coroner when he finished so she could read what he wrote, the message being, "_I am ready to begin. Are you?_"

"Yes," she stated quickly as she turned away from the agent and reached down to pick up one of the cutting tools. "He's prepped. Thank you, Toussaint."

"_I am right here,_" he replied.

She smiled and then carefully began to cut a long, deep gash into Mick's side and allowed his blood to seep over the metal table's edge, while the Haitian raised the bowl underneath to catch the precious liquid. Mick could feel the excruciating pain as the blade cut through his flesh, but could not react. When she finished after having collected enough of the agent's blood to fill the bowl most of the way, the doctor quickly pressed a towel up to the wound to stifle the flow long enough for her to get what she needed to stitch it up so that he wouldn't bleed out.

Dr. Stevens spoke again as she worked saying, "I'm sorry that this is a necessary step in the healing process. We must first cleanse your blood if we are going to have any hope in succeeding. Then, we'll move on to the more difficult process, which sadly will be far worse than this. As I told you before, you're going to be alright and when we're done here tonight, you'll be free to go back to being an agent with the FBI or free to do anything else that you've ever wanted to do. Just stay with us."


	10. Chapter 10

I'd Die For the Man

Chapter Ten

Hours later…

"Sam, have there been any new developments?" Jenna asked quickly the moment she walked up to Cooper and Prophet, who were standing outside of the gate to welcome Mick's sister as she arrived. "Please, tell me you've found him."

"Not yet, but I assure you Jenna, we are doing everything we can and we will find him," Cooper answered sadly, not meaning to show Jenna his shaken confidence. "Mick is tough and he will give his kidnappers hell, as you know better than even I do. He'll fight as long as he has to for us to."

Jenna nodded as tears began to fall from her eyes, then she swallowed and responded, "I know you're right. That still doesn't make this any easier. You have to find him, Sam. Mick is all I have. I want my fiancée to know him and love him as I do."

Prophet replied for their leader, "We know, Miss. Rawson. As Coop said, he's going to be alright."

"Do you at least have any leads?" she asked again as the two agents led Jenna through the airport and to their car so that they could bring her to her hotel where she would be staying for however long she would be remaining in New Orleans.

"Unfortunately no," Sam answered. "As soon as anything comes up, we will let you know immediately. Now, as for your hotel room, everything's on the bureau, so if you want or need anything…"

Jenna raised her hand to stop the man who had saved her brother long ago from his dark past from talking, then she responded, "I just want my brother back alive. I need him to come back alive. Nothing else matters to me more than that."

It was then that Cooper's phone began to ring as he looked down at the unknown number, then looked over at Jon as he heard a crash as the sound of a fight came through the line, and immediately cried out, "Call Penelope and tell her to do whatever it takes to get a trace on this line now!"

Meanwhile…

After the first part of his kidnappers' ritual, the doctor finished stitching up the second wound they had given Mick, then left him alone again for a while as they prepared themselves for the next step. They hadn't left the room completely, as the gas station was only one large room with the exception of the bathroom, but Mick could hear the doctor speaking softly in the distance to the Haitian, whom Mick deduced early on couldn't speak. Though the pain level within him had only increased since the doctor had begun to cut him open, Mick remained conscious as the paralysis continued its hold.

However, his assailants didn't know Mick had something up on them, a gift Mick had developed through his years while fighting overseas by practicing to build up an immunity to a number of drugs, helping most others as well to work their way through his body faster than they did anyone else's. By the time the doctor had finished, the agent had slowly started regaining feeling back within his fingers and toes, and knew that the rest of his body wouldn't be far behind.

"We don't have the time with this one as we had with the others," Mick heard the doctor say more forcefully after their long conversation, still from across the room as he worked to loosen his fingers so that he could continue to loosen the cords keeping his wrists tied. "There's more pressure on us to save him faster than the others so that the police and FBI will get off of our backs once we release him."

"_Time isn't what's important,_" the Haitian replied through his writing. "_Only his life._"

She answered, "You're right, but we can't just ignore that the agents are more motivated to find us now than before either. We need to continue now. He is strong enough. The demons will not take this one."

He nodded and then wrote again, "_Very well. Paint the symbols on his chest. I'll finish collecting the rest of the mixtures from our car and mixing them._"

"You still being awake only instills a greater confidence in our passion to heal you, Agent Rawson," Dr. Stevens spoke to Mick softly once her partner walked away as she stood over him and looked down into his dark eyes.

"I'm afraid I'm more than simply awake, doctor," their captive responded to the woman's surprise when she spun around as Mick suddenly wrapped his arms around her neck, having been able to loosen the cords around his arms and waist just enough for him to slip his arms free before she had walked back over to him, and then squeezed the right pressure points until she became unconscious.

Once she was down and had fallen to the floor, Mick waited until he knew that the Haitian hadn't heard his and the woman's brief struggle, then he weakly continued to break free of the rest of his bindings. The ex soldier may have had more movement again within his arms, but barely that. The rest of his body was still weak and Mick knew that her partner would be back before he'd have the strength take him out too.

Upon looking around the room for something to help him, Mick finally saw the doctor's burn phone she had been using instead of her own cell, now lying on the ground beside her, the device having fallen from her pocket during their struggle. So with difficulty the agent rolled his body from off of the table down to the floor beside her, stifling his urge to cry out as his pain flared once again, and finally fumbled with the phone to dial Cooper's number just as the Haitian came back and saw that the woman he cared for was down and that their prisoner was free.

A new struggle upon the floor broke out as Mick swiftly managed to toss the phone beneath the table to keep his assailants from seeing that it was in use, knowing that his teammates would know that it was him and trace the call for his location. Then, he fought for as long as he could against the larger man, but to no avail. What little strength Mick had was gone and the Haitian knocked him out with one final blow to his head.

Once the agent was no longer a threat, the Haitian focused on helping the woman he had cared for since she had just started college as he gently stroke her face in an effort to wake her, then carefully helped her to sit up once she finally did awaken. She looked at her friend in confusion until her memory of what happened came back to her once she saw Mick lying unconscious on the floor beside her.

She looked into the Haitian's eyes as she stated in frustration, "I never should have allowed him to get the drop on me. I didn't realize that the acetylcholine had already started to wear off. It shouldn't have."

Her partner held his notebook as he wrote, then showed it to her again as she read his reply, "_The others only needed a single dose. It was several hours before they could even open and close their eyes. How is this possible?_"

"I'm not sure," she answered nervously. "Obviously his body reacts much differently to drugs than most people. There may be something in his background that we wouldn't know about."

"_We need to give him another dose then,_" the Haitian responded again. "_It won't be long before a man of his strength awakens once again._"

Dr. Stevens shook her head and replied, "I can't do that, not without knowing how his body might react. We can't risk killing him, unless we discover that it's absolutely necessary to do so. I need you to tie him down, but be sure that his bindings are much tighter this time. I don't want to risk him hurting himself any more than he already has either."

The silent man did as she sked as he carefully pulled Mick's body from off of the floor and laid him back down on the table, then tied the cords back around his body like before. It wasn't until the doctor had begun to paint the symbols across his chest, using Mick's own blood they had collected in the wooden bowl earlier as the substance.

Mick saw the Haitian standing on the opposite side of the table than his partner as he stared cruelly down at the agent, then he spoke up asking, "Why are you really doing this? What do you have to gain from trying to free me of some demon that's only in your minds?"

"In my mind, Agent Rawson," she answered curtly. "Toussaint doesn't have the same gift that I have, but he believes in me and the two of us believe in the work we have been called to do."

"Yes, yes, I know, but how did you receive this gift?" Mick asked again, hoping that he could get a better understanding as to the cause of this woman's delusions and reason for doing all that they've done. "Please, I just want to understand, in case you can't save me."

The Haitian quickly wrote again in his notebook and allowed her to read his words, it saying, "_You do not have to explain anything to this man. You have no need to explain yourself to anyone._"

The doctor smiled at her friend sadly as she picked up another syringe from the tray beside her, then prepped it as she responded to Mick, "My gift came to me as I was being tortured and abused during a hazing ritual that had gone terribly wrong. I just wanted to belong somewhere, so I joined a sorority, but little did I know that they had no intention of accepting me. Instead they kidnapped me, tied me to an altar in the middle of the woods, and began to perform this terrifying and excruciating voodoo ritual, as a prank. Between it all I began to see demons and this great evil within the students doing this to me. I screamed and cried, begging them to stop and for anyone to help me, but no one did, until Toussaint heard my cries and rescued me after he killed all those that did this to me. I lived and I was blessed in reward for my will to live through it all. Now, I can see the evil that lurks within so many people and Toussaint and I do all we can to try to help save these people. There is a demon in you too, Agent Rawson. It's even darker than the being I saw within your friend back at the police station. Don't you wish to be free of it?"

"You've already made my choice for me, love," Mick replied. "Go ahead, but you will regret it."

"You're wrong," she answered coldly as she injected the needle's fluid into his veins of one of his arms and the agony he felt increased tenfold, causing him to scream as his entire body arched upward as far as it could.

The poison now spreading through his bloodstream was a different kind of torture from the likes of which he had experienced as a sniper in the wars he fought as Mick's vision blurred and his mind grew hazy as a dizziness swept over him. Soon his screaming faded and his body sank back down against the table as the Haitian had begun some sort of deep, almost hypnotizing chant, the only sound that could ever come from his mouth, but Mick's agony didn't end. As he suffered, the Haitian sang and the doctor only stood back and watched their work in awe.

All of a sudden, the doors was busted down and several uniformed men and women heavily armed swarmed into the room as they shouted, ordering the assailants to stand down until they were eventually tackled to the ground. Once they were taken care of, the FBI's RED CELL team moved swiftly to their comrade's side as they worked to break through his bindings and pull the fever stricken man close as an ambulance was called. Mick was still conscious, but barely as Cooper held him tightly against him in hope of giving the younger man some way of knowing that they had found him.

Six days later…

Mick slowly opened his eyes and struggled to look at his surroundings, very quickly finding Sam, who lowered his paper upon seeing his friend had awakened, sitting down in a chair beside the hospital bed he was clearly lying in. The ex sniper continued to look around as his eyes stopped on a young woman asleep, lying over his right arm while she rested her hand over his. It didn't take long for him to recognize the prone form of his beautiful little sister.

Sam spoke first saying, "She's barely left your side since you were brought in. She's been worried about you. We all have. Thank God you've pulled though. The doctors didn't think you would."

Mick asked weakly, "Wh… why…?"

"Jenna tried calling you the night you disappeared," Sam responded quietly, understanding what it was he was trying to ask him. "When you didn't answer or call her back, she became worried and called me. I had no choice, but to call her back and explain to her what had happened, so she didn't worry any more than she had to. She's exhausted."

"How long?" Mick asked again.

Cooper continued, "For six days. You've been in the hospital for six days. We found you after only one night, but you were in bad shape. The doctor's say that the poison concoction Dr. Stevens put into your system put your body through hell. Don't worry, they've both been arrested and will pay for what they've done."

It was then that Jenna awoke as she exclaimed, "Mick! Thank God!"

"It's good to… see you too, love," he replied as she suddenly lowered herself over him to hug him, while he raised one arm to try to reciprocate the affection.

"You scared the hell out of me," Jenna stated angrily as she stood straight again. "Please don't ever do that to me again. With your time overseas and now… I don't ever want to lose you, not like that."

Mick looked between his sister and the man he looked up to more than anyone else and answered, "I didn't intend for this… for this to happen."

Sam looked at Jenna as he asked, "May I have a moment alone with him, please?"

"I'll be right outside," she responded and leaned down again to kiss Mick on his cheek, then patted Sam shoulder on her way out. "Try to talk some sense into him, Sam."

"What is it?" the Brit asked sternly once he and the leader were alone again.

"Obviously you didn't intend to get yourself kidnapped, but you did intend to get in between the Haitian and Dr. Stevens when they attacked me," Cooper replied in frustration as he stood beside Mick with his arms crossed. "You put yourself in harm's way because you feel like you owe me for saving your life years ago. You would take a bullet for me, without hesitation, and without thought about how anyone else would feel if you died."

Mick nodded and then answered, "You're damn straight I would. You didn't just save… my life when I was held prisoner and tortured those four months while fighting in a battle that wasn't my battle to fight. You saved me from… myself. You saw the man… the man that I was back then. And you didn't give up on me. You helped me and brought me home… to Jenna. That is something I can never repay, but I will never stop trying. Not even if that means giving my life for yours."

Sam looked at him sadly as he asked, "And what about Jenna? What happens to her if you die?"

"I know that you'll do the right thing by her," Mick responded weakly as he slowly began to feel more and more exhausted. "That you'll… take care of her, like you always have. No more talk. Some other time maybe, but right now… I just want to see her… and the others."

"All right," Cooper replied as he finally motioned for Jenna, who was watching them from the room's window, to come back in, followed by the rest of the team, who also watched their friends talk while they waited to see Mick.

Prophet took Mick's hand in his as he said, "It's so good to finally see you awake again, man. You awoke a couple of times over the last few days, but tonight's the first time you're fully conscious."

Beth hugged him, as did Gina, then Mick asked, "How long was I…?"

"You've been out of it for six days," Beth answered.

"The doctors didn't believe us when we claimed that you'd pull through," Gina continued as she looked over at Jenna. "Jenna had more faith that you would than even the rest of us."

Sam smiled at the young woman, who wasn't one of the team, then responded, "Your sister's a brave woman."

Mick nodded as he wearily closed his eyes, then reopened them in attempt to fight off his body's effort for rest, then the team leader stated, "I think it's time we left for now. Let him get the rest he needs."

"Jenna, don't go," Mick pleaded as he tried to reach out to her. "Stay."

"I'm not going anywhere," she replied as she sat down again beside him.

As his eyes closed, he spoke barely above a whisper, "I want to meet… your fiancée. He must be… a good man…"

Jenna smiled as tears slowly began to fall down her face, then as her brother finally fell asleep again, she laid her body down, rested her head on his chest and whispered back, "I can't wait to introduce the man I love to the brother I have always admired. No one ever can or ever will replace you. I love you."

The End


	11. Thank You

Thank you to all of those who have read and have written reviews for my stories! They are much appreciated. I'm honored to have you all for fans and I hope to hear from you all again in the future, should you choose to read and enjoy more of my work. Best of wishes to you all!

Sincerely,

Genevieve Kelly


End file.
